NotSo Lonely Wasteland
by Ninuri
Summary: Kai goes for a walk in Yoshphet and meets Oki, by some coincidence.
1. Chapter 1

Kai was almost always an exceptionally patient woman. This morning was an exception however. For the ninth day in a row, Tuskle dismissed Kai and chosen Lika to receive training. All training. Not just spiritual training, but also in exploring and games and magic. Kai herself had been sent off to gather summer notifier flowers for _Lika's_ summoning lessons.

As Kai wandered away from Tuskle's shrine, she heard Lika giggle. Probably from the tickling hum of spiritual energy. The noise made Kai feel resentful, that Lika was always chosen over her. Lika was always the favorite. Lika had already received ten proposals of marriage even though she was only fourteen. It seemed that nobody thought of Kai as a possible lifetime companion.

When Kai arrived at the foot of the hill, she decided that she would not find the summer notifier flowers for Lika. Instead, she would take the day off. For once, Kai would enjoy herself. Already the day seemed planned.

Quickly transforming into a wolf she ran through the town and out into the cold, desolate tundra of Kamui. Before Amaterasu had arrived, Kamui was so big that it swallowed up the whole world. Now it was just a pint-sized wasteland. Kai's only real comfort came from Yoshphet, the consuming forest was not really endless but Kai was the only one aware of it. She had mapped out the entire forest years ago and could never get lost in it. Blindfolded Kai could dodge trees, jump boulders, and destroy monsters.

So she stepped into the entry of the forest. Totally safe. No one could ever find her here, no one ever visited here. The trees sucked up all the wind, and there was no sound. It was so peaceful and then- "what are you doing here?"

Kai shrieked and turned around completely. The voice had come from Oki, also in his wolf form. She had expected him to look stoic and poised as always, but rather he looked disheveled. "Are you lost?" Kai asked Oki quietly.

"No. Now answer my question." He still seemed out of it.

"I decided to go for a walk." She tried to keep eye contact but Oki was looking around frantically. For once, Kai felt stronger than Oki. He_ was_ lost and she knew where the exit was. Kai shifted back to her human form and was about to wander away when she took pity on him. She liked Oki, she really did, but he was always angry with her... Kai wondered how his face would look if she suddenly bolted and left him stranded in the forest, which would consume her scent and leave Oki lost and alone. But she did not want him to die. She did not want him to suffer. So Kai asked him to stand up, and he did.

Back in his human shape Oki was much more put together, he was more muscular. But Kai grabbed his hand and began to lead him back to the entrance. "Why aren't you with Tuskle and your sister?" Oki asked.

"They have no need for me, so I took the day off." Now Kai was sure he had been lost, because he would not be acting so gentle with his questions if he didn't need her help. "What brings you to Inner Yoshphet?"

Oki looked uncomfortable, and his hand tensed quite a bit. He walked alongside her silently. The moment the pair reached Kamui Oki breathed very deeply. It was already nighttime, and the animals had crept away until the chilly, not freezing, morning light. Kai turned to go back to town, but stopped. She got scared. Kai had only gotten Tuskle mad once, and that was when she had forgotten a basket of gigantic leaf paper in the fields overnight and it was ruined from the snow and rain.

Tuskle's magic aura had become overwhelming and she had shaken Kai around the room with it. Then the aura became two demon birds, Kuro and Dorei, to watch Kai as she collected _two _baskets of leaves. Every time she sat down to rest the birds would move closer, until finally they pecked at her skin. Kuro' s pecks left gigantic bruises while Dorei left lashes.

The bottom line was that Tuskle's anger was painful. And Kai did not want to experience it again. But she was so panicked she could not think of where to go. Then she paused. Of course! Oki owed her so Kai could go home with him, spend the night and return to Tuskle and Lika in the morning, after collecting the flowers.

Leaping through the snow, Kai bounded next to Oki and turned to her wolf form, enjoying the warm fur. Oki realized what was happening and he did not like it. At all. "Go home."

But Kai kept following him home. She paced next to him as he moved faster and faster, trying to get away from her, "it doesn't matter, I know where you live," Kai said.

"Stalker." And then Oki had a burst of speed, streching his human legs as far as they could go and then shifting into wolf form and mving on the bounce. But Kai was the fastest Oina, and she easily caught up to him and kept his pace until he could find no more.

Oki gave up and returned to a walk, panting slightly. But he gave in. When they reached his house on the border of Kamui, he held the door open for her. Gentlewolf-like. Kai had expected his home to been emptier, but it was piled with things. In the middle of the room was a warm, but hazardous, spitfire. The walls were heaped with baskets, probably full of fish and herbs, though Okami knows that he would not be able to properly use them. A pile of furs were spread on a corner, and Kai assumed that they were his bed. It actually looked pretty comfy. Swords, axes, lances, and daggers were hung as trophies above windows and the door, and strewn across the room. But it was homey.

Oki filled a pot was fish and water and put it on the stove, no added herbs or anything. As Kai expected, it was disgusting and bland, and Kai wished that she could at least add some salt. After dinner, Oki walked to a heap of rags, his clothing, and prepared to take his off and put on a nightshirt. But he remembered that Kai was watching, "hey, could you turn around."

Kai blushed furiously under her mask and quickly turned away, "okay, look back now," and then a big shirt was thrown at her head. She stared at him, not knowing exactly what he wanted her to do with them. "You wear them. Like a night-clothing-thing." Taking a deep breath, "unless you want to sleep in you clothes."

"Oh!" Kai gulped, one thing she had never done was change clothes for in front of a man. She shed her large jacket, exposing her pale arms, and was just about to unbutton the third button of her dress when she realized that Oki was staring at her. And not just staring, gawking. The blush under her mask spread all over and she tried to cover herself with her coat. While she changed she kept one arm holding the coat as a shield, though she did drop it at one point, luckily still wearing her undersuit. The black undershorts and undershirt were not what you would march around town in, but certainly not scant. Though it did still make her embaressed.

By the time Kai was finished Oki was lying down on his bed, covered in blankets. Still watching her, but sleepily. Kai moved to a nice corner of the room, cleared out a little space, and tried to sleep. She covered herself with the coat, and turned in many positions, and finally fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

When Kai woke up, she felt stiff as a board. The floor had not been kind to her back and it wasn't doing her neck any favors either. Even standing up was uncomfortable, but Kai managed to creep across the floor and make her way to the warm fire in the middle of the room.

Unfortunately the fire was out, and it appeared that Oki had left early in the morning.

Kai felt bad for being a burden on him. Deep down she felt that she should have returned to Tuskle and Lika, rather than following Oki home and spending the night at his house.

Then a brilliant idea came to Kai! She stood up, hoisted one of the baskets of fish off the pile and found a pan. After rekindling the fire and using some fish oil to heat up the pan, Kai moved towards the door. While pan heated up, she could gather the summer notifier flowers and some flavoring herbs…

And also go to the bathroom.

Wandering around the back of Oki's house, Kai was expecting to find an outhouse. Most of the houses in Wep'keer and the surrounding area had an outhouse or shared one with a neighbor. Oki's house however did not.

Kai circled the house at least eighteen times, pawed through the snow drifts to see if one was covered, and then circled eighteen more times. Still no outhouse.

The search was making Kai need to pee more and more. Finally she transformed into a wolf and dug a hole in the snow. That was where Kai did her business, and she did not like it one bit.

Making her way back to the house, Kai smelled something burning. She turned back into a human and darted inside. The pan was burning and smoldering, and little ashes were flying everywhere, causing tiny pieces of the floor to light up.

Immediately Kai sprang into action!

An incident like this had happened when Kai was sixteen, back when Tuskle actually chose to teach her some skills. Tuskle lit a fire in the middle her shrine, and asked Kai to use protective magic to keep the flames from spreading. Kai was doing terrifically, not one cinder escaped the force field she had conjured. Then Lika started crying from outside, apparently her sled had tipped over and she had fallen onto a ledge on the hillside and was trapped there. Tuskle rushed outside to rescue Lika and Kai followed suit. It took an hour to calm Lika down enough to turn her back into a human and ride Tuskle's back to safety. By the time the group returned to the house, Kai's force field had worn off and the flames had burnt a large hole in the shrine. Tuskle was very disapproving, but left Kai to clean up as she herself made sure Lika had no scratches or broken bones.

This time Kai thought she would have known better, but she also knew that the house should have had a nearby outhouse. Quickly putting out the fire and cooling the pan, Kai picked out two nice, mid-sized yellowtail and plopped onto the pan. Inside the pockets of her big coat Kai retrieved several flakes of pepper-salt and sprinkled them other the fish.

After a little while of watching the pan simmer Kai decided that this would be an excellent time to get dressed. She stepped lightly to the corner of the room and dropped the pair of pants Oki had lent her. Next came the shirt, but as she reached down for her dress there was a noise at the front door and she jumped.

Oki opened the door and walked inside, looking around for Kai, who dove behind a pile of baskets. "Oki, wait outside!" Kai shrieked.

Oki was too shocked to put up any trouble so he walked backwards out the door and closed it. He waited about three minutes before opening it again. Once inside the house Kai laughed uncomfortably and sat near the fire, moving the fish from the pan to a plate. Oki sat down across from her and grabbed some of the fish, shoving it into his mouth and then looking up suddenly. "Is this fish?"

"Yes, I hope you don't mind I just-"

"It's good."

After that the two ate in silence, but for once, Kai was comfortable… Except for the times that Oki eyed the charred bits of floor.

At about two 'o'clock Kai remembered that she needed to gather the summer notifier flowers and get back to Tuskle and Lika. After thanking Oki profusely, Kai ran outside and started digging the ground near a pond to find flower patches.

Four hours of digging led to six of the little blue flowers, not a very fruitful day at all. Kai trudged through Wep'keer and made her way up the hill and into Tuskle's shrine. It seemed that no one was home. Quietly Kai placed the flowers onto the desk and curled up near the hearth. She was very sleepy, and the room was so warm that Kai immediately dozed off. Footsteps woke her up, but she tried to ignore them. "Where have you been?" The voice was definitely Tuskle's.

Kai grumbled a little. "The whole village has been looking for you, you could have _died_," Tuskle scolded. Lika ran up and gave Kai a gigantic hug, too big for a little green girl.

Kai sat up and looked at Tuskle, who was eyeing her expectantly. "I went for a walk."

"Where?"

"Around Kamui," Kai was getting on the defensive.

Lika jumped in and yelled "Master Samickle wants to marry you! He told me! He told me!"

At this Kai fell off the chair she was sitting in, "WHAT?"

Tuskle lifted Lika up and carried her outside, "wait here." Stepping back inside the older woman paused. "You are of marrying age, and the only woman eligible in the whole village." Tuskle waited for a reply, but Kai was stunned. "You really don't have enough going for you as a priestess…" Still no answer. "Your mother would have liked you to marry-"

"Not to Samickle! He's so old! He's so mean and controlling, I could never marry him!"

Tuskle crossed her arms, "he's your age, and really he's a nice man. Give him a chance and I'm sure you'll learn to love him."

"No! I won't!"

"Then do not leave this house until you are ready to call of the marriage yourself!" Tuskle tried to pull herself together as she called Lika back inside. Even Lika was silent, and no one said a word as they got undressed and ready for bed.

The lights went out for the night and Kai sat in bed, staring at the ceiling for hours. She could not fall asleep. It seemed obvious to Kai that Tuskle had already agreed to marry her off, and get rid of her to train Lika forever. But Kai refused to let that happen. At exactly one in the morning, Kai got up and put on her clothes as quietly as possible. She packed clothing and food into a bag and tried to open the door.

The door would not open. Tuskle must have suspected something and put a charm of it. Cursing under her breath, Kai tip-toed back to Tuskle's bed. Slowly reaching into Tuskle's pocket, she felt a key, and tried to take it out. Tuskle rolled over, and Kai nearly jumped out of her skin, but luckily Tuskle did not wake. After withdrawing the key, Kai moved back to the door and unlocked it, then pocketed the tool. Looking back one more time before leaving, she grabbed a few more useful items. A mermaid's coin, a couple exorcism slips, and some sake. Then she stepped outside, whispered "goodnight, Lika," and run down the mountain side and into the darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

Kai lay awake in a cave near a frozen pond. She was thinking of ways to get out of marrying Samickle, and it was difficult to even imagine leaving Kamui. Several hours had passed since she had snuck out of Tuskle's shrine and the weather had only become colder. Kai had already transformed into a wolf and covered herself with her large winter jacket, but the cave wasn't helping to keep any of the snow of wind away.

Yawning heavily, Kai stood up and piled bunches of snow against the cave entrance. She had realized that the opening was too big to insulate the cavern, but it was too cold to find a different one.

In the far distance, a very faint shadow was nearing the cave. Oki had smelled Kai's scent while she was leaving the village. Though he did not care much to say it, Oki was afraid for her life when they had met in Inner Yoshphet. The consuming forest had been too much for him to remain much consciousness, but he had noticed a certain loneliness through the eyeholes of her mask.

Never before had Oki really looked deep into a person's eyes, and now he wanted to see her face under the mask. Perhaps the reason he was so interested was because Samickle had told him that he wanted to marry the girl. Yes, that definitely played a part in it. After Amaterasu had raised the Ark, Samickle had appointed Oki as one of his advisors. Oki and Samickle were friends, but Oki still felt a need to rebel.

Walking closer and closer to the scent, Oki gasped. He recognized the cave Kai was in, the beast catacomb. Deep within the cave was the tomb of a demon, long forgotten by most, whose impure body could spawn monsters even after death. Oki sprinted towards the cave, only to find that the entrance was blocked by snow. He began digging away the frost, trying desperately to get inside, when he heard a deafening scream!

Kai had just finished sealing the mouth of the cave and started building a fire when a crow tengu appeared out of nowhere. Her first reaction was to scream, but that was definitely a wrong move. The noise attracted the attention of several more monsters, an ubume and a dead fish, which all closed in on her. Brandishing a flaming tree branch Kai attempted to smack them, but the all dodged. The tengu cackled, "Come 'ere little miss. We only want ta' play wit' you."

The dead fish knocked him out of the way, "her body is so similar to my little Saria's, can we keep her? Oh please, please?"

"Out of my way, you old toad." The ubume shoved both of her companions back, "No, this one looks delicious. She's mine."

"But I'm starvin'."

"Can I keep her skeleton and clothes? I promise I'll play with her out of your way!"

Kai was wide-eyed, she wanted to get away from Wep'keer, but not eaten alive and made into a doll. "Get the pot and cleaver, I want steamed Oina tonight," ordered the ubume.

The tengu nodded and stepped backwards into a hole. Then the ubume looked expectantly at the dead fish, "I am going to get dressed for dinner, make sure she doesn't escape, and then you can be with your Saria forever."

Edging down a corridor, the ubume reminded Kai of a mountain scorpion eating a bird. She was too large to be overpowered, plus she had her henchman to protect her. There must be a way to escape.

Oki was having little luck moving the snow. At this rate, Kai would be dead before he got halfway through. He stopped digging and thought for a minute, if only he could get some fire onto the pile. It would melt instantly!

Reaching into his vest pocket, Oki retrieved some matches and tried lighting them. To no avail, the weather was to wet to allow any sparks. "Damn it."

Oki threw the matches into the snow and continued digging.

Back inside the cave, Kai was trying to calm herself down enough to think. But it was proving to be extremely difficult, because the dead fish was staring at her. The monster was nearly drooling, "do you remember me, my dear little Saria?"

Kai froze; this had been the big break she was looking for. "Yes, I remember you very well."

"Thank goodness you are alive; I thought for sure my husband had murdered you."

Kai looked down as though upset, but in reality she was thinking, "No, I suspected his plans are ran away."

The dead fish appeared sad, and for a moment Kai really pitied her. "When you left, my life was over. I was certain my husband had killed you when he came back to the house that cold winter evening with blood on his robes. He was so judgmental about _us_. He screamed at me before we went to sleep that night, and hit me. I knew I could never be happy again." The fish paused and looked lovingly at Kai. "It was then, in the middle of the night that I realized the only way we could be together was in the afterlife, but I did not want my husband to go on living. He would remarry, and have more kids, and kill his new wife's closest friend as well. So I killed him. I took the cleaver that I had made his dinner with and plunged it into his heart."

Kai gasped, she really did not want to here this. About death and revenge, but the fish talked on. "Then I walked outside and onto the dock, you know the one, we used to fish on it during the summer. I undressed and tied a great stone onto my ankle, and I jumped into the water. That was when I drowned. I thought I would meet you immediately, but I became this!"

The fish was sobbing, clutching Kai's coat and blowing her nose into it. Kai felt terrible, she hugged the monster, "we can be together, but let me run away or they'll eat me."

"I'm so sorry, Saria. Even in death I am bound to my mistress, never can I disobey her whim." But the dead fish could feel the sorrow welling up. "Please, kill me."

"What?"

"Kill me, I want to try to move on. You can escape then!"

"I can't, I couldn't."

"You must. Here, use my dagger." The fish offered a cleaver, "when I am dead, take this cleaver somewhere beautiful and bury it. Let me pass into the next world."

Kai struggled to lift the weapon. She had to use both hands and still had trouble. Finally it rose, the fish stared right at it. "Hurry." Kai stabbed, the fish fell to the ground with a thump, and whispered "_do not forget_," before passing on.

But Kai had no time to waste on mourning, she sheathed the cleaver in a leather bag from the fish's belt and picked up a flaming log. She ran towards the snow pile with it, but the tengu appeared from the hole, dragging a huge cauldron behind him. Kai shrieked and tossed the branch onto the pile, hoping to burn it and make an escape route.

The tengu was flying towards her, and he grabbed her arms and legs. "You know, you ain't to bad a looker. Maybe my mistress could spare you fer a while."

It started pulling Kai into the pit, tearing at her clothing and groping all the way. Just as the tengu tugged her left foot into the hole, a silver flash burst past them. The tengu was chopped to pieces, dropping Kai onto the ground barely a foot away from the hole.

Oki stood at the opposite end of the room, facing the wall and clutching Kutone. Slowly, the wolf boy turned to face her, "are you alright?"

But Kai looked sick, and wasn't even watching him. He followed her gaze until he spotted a gigantic, oily ubume. The monster was furious, stomping towards Kai. "You are _going_ to be my dinner."

Kai tried to run to Oki's side, but she could not stop looking into the ubume's dark red eyes. "Kai, run!" Oki screamed.

He knew something was terribly wrong and charged full speed at the ubume, but the creature was unscathed by his attack. Oki lifted Kai onto his back and attacked again. Still the demon would not take any damage. All Oki could do was run, and run he did. Out into the frosty night air the two escaped from the beast, but it chased them out. Billowing in the wind, the ubume stopped ten feet in front of Oki and Kai. Kai was out like a light, and left Oki to protect her. He tried stabbing again, but it still made no difference, and this time the ubume lashed out and ripped his vest.

The wind became stronger and the ubume, like a paper crane, floated slightly to the left. Oki chose then to fight, and it worked this time. The ubume was weak against wind! Oki remembered, from a story old Kemu had once told him, how a woman was slain by a samurai. This samurai, who was supposed to be both powerful and kind, sent feelings of resentment and hatred towards an innocent woman and from her rage she became a demon.

Every time the wind blew Oki would slash, and the ubume would scream in pain. A huge gale swept across Kamui and Oki seized the opportunity to destroy the beast once and for all.

Oki would have taken the time to congratulate himself, but Kai started shivering horribly. He panicked, and tried shaking her a little. Kai would not wake up, and as the shivering worsened Oki panicked and ran to a nearby hut as fast as his legs could take him.


	4. Chapter 4

Wali looked suspiciously at the Oina man who was nervously pacing around his house. About half an hour ago the young man had burst into the hut and noisily demanded medical attention for his girlfriend. The young man appeared to be a warrior, and that scared Wali a bit. Warriors that Wali was acquainted with were usually angry and threatening. They would force all sorts of demands onto Wali and give nothing in return. "You should calm down a bit," Wali suggested to his guest.

"I can't."

Wali thought about this for a minute, and then poured some of the broth he was cooking into a vile. Never for even a moment had Wali thought he would ever use his cooking skills for visitors. Wali had never really been a very successful chef before, either. Most of the food he ate was bland fish or stale crackers, and both on a good day. However, today was an exception for him. The broth actually looked edible. Not especially tasty, but edible nonetheless. Wali handed the young man a bowl of the soup and took one over to the girl. She was very pretty, but she was still unconscious, as she had been when she arrived. "What is her name?"

"Kai." Oki continued pacing, though he glanced over at the host.

"Please sit down, you need to relax." It was obvious to Wali that his guest needed rest, but also that the young man would not rest. "Tell me your story, what is your name?"

Hesitantly, Oki told him, though he left out certain details.

Afterwards, Oki realized that his listener had fallen asleep, and he stood up and walked over to Kai. What had happened to her? Really now, it had been a sudden fall. She just started quaking, and Oki had panicked. It was eerie, to say the least. But Oki was sure it had been just the near death experience that had gotten to her.

Wandering close to the fire, Oki refilled his bowl of soup and took another large gulp. The broth was tastier than what he usually ate at home, and the fire was somehow warmer. Stepping backwards and falling onto a pillow, Oki felt more comfortable than he had in a long time. Taking advantage of the situation, he dozed off.

At precisely noon, Kai woke with a start. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she took in her surroundings. Oki and another man were sound asleep on the other side of a cozy hut, and a fire was slowly dying in the center. A cold bowl of chicken broth was resting at her side, with a small pot of it bubbling on a spit above the fire.

However, Kai was pleased to see that she had escaped from the clutches of the evil ubume. Breathing deeply, Kai lifted the cold bowl of soup to her lips and took a drink. It was awful, and cold and nothing near as delicious as the stew Tuskle would cook. Kai leaned closer to the bowl and discreetly spat the disgusting liquid back inside. She stood up, dusted off her dress, and was about to walk home when Kai remembered that she had been running away. It was a difficult concept to grasp, the whole never returning to the place she knew best.

So Kai dropped to her knees again. She had not planned out her escape very well at all, and this time she could not ask Tuskle or Lika for advice. So Kai waited for Oki to wake up. She had big plans for him. Oki would take her to Nippon, and there she would start anew.


	5. Chapter 5

When Oki woke up, he expected to be in his bed at home, but instead he was lying down next to a very pink Oina man. After he realized that it was extremely difficult to get comfortable, and he squirmed nervously for a couple of minutes before standing up and moving closer to the fire. Still, he felt like some one was watching him.

Slowly looking up, Oki noticed that Kai was awake, and staring at him. However she had blanked out, and obviously had her thoughts elsewhere. Oki walked quietly to her side, and waved his hand in front of her face a couple times. Kai shook her head and snapped out of it, turning quickly to face Oki. "Morning," he said.

"Good morning!"

Oki did not like happiness in the morning, and to show his displeasure he stood up and walked outside the hut. Kai trotted after him, "Oki, Oki, wait for me," she called.

He did wait, but he did not know why. In fact, Oki could sense that something drastic was going to occur with in the next few words he spoke with Kai. This "sense" probably had something to do with the fact that Kai was following him like a lost puppy and getting a determined look in what little of her face that Oki could see from outside her mask.

Either way, Kai was beginning to creep Oki out. He tried to sneak away during lunch while Kai taught Wali to fry salmon and use fire lichen for seasoning. However, Kai bolted to his side the moment his hand touched the fur door. So Oki decided to wait it out, he would hear what Kai had to say and then return to his daily life.

It was not until Kai and Oki said farewell to Wali and started to travel home that Kai told him what she wanted. "Oki, I want to go to Nippon tomorrow."

"So go," Oki replied. He felt a little awkward saying this, because Oki knew exactly why Kai was telling him this.

"No, no, no. I mean, I need to go to Nippon but I need an escort to take me there." Openly flustered, there was no getting around the fact that Kai was feeling awkward as well. "I can't."

Kai fidgeted uncomfortably for a minute, and the pair stopped walking to look at each other. Oki himself just took a quick glance at Kai, he did not want to feel guilty. He just wanted to go home and be alone. Kai shifted from foot to foot, and finally said, "Why not?"

Oki did not know what to say to this. He just stood there, hoping that Kai would say something else.

The snow was falling gently and the sky was dark. Kai and Oki stood on the snowy field for a long time, just staring in silence. When the wind began blowing faster in time with the snow Oki turned to walk towards his hut. For once however Kai did not follow him. She remained completely motionless until Oki disappeared inside his house.

Then Kai trudged to a nearby shrine and huddled inside it for shelter. Little tear drops dripped down Kai's cheek and out the bottom of her mask. The dark shrine began to feel warmer, though. Much more comfortable than a normal hard wood floor could ever be. As the hours passed, Kai realized that the God of the Shrine was trying to sooth her.

Inside the cramped little shrine, Kai looked to the statue. The statue was of an older woman with a cat in curled in her lap. Though made of stone, the woman appeared to be blushing and the cat's sculpted fur seemed to move in the cooling breeze from outside the shrine. Kai wished she could hug the woman or pet the cat, but remembered that Tuskle had always warned her and Lika against touching the statues in unknown shrines.

Kai had heard stories from the snake-masked merchant in Wep'Keer about children being stolen by mischievous Shrine Gods.

So Kai did not touch either of the statues. However she did pull a palm sized box of fish from her pocket and placed at the foot of the statues before curling up and trying to sleep.

At approximately six in the morning Kai sat up and said a quick thanks to the statue. She dusted off the large green coat and pondered what to do. In the end there were two possibilities. One, Kai could return to Tuskle and Wep'Keer and agree to marry Samickle. Or two, Kai could continue to Nippon alone.

This was not too difficult a choice to make. Half an hour later Kai had arrived at the mouth of a cave where she had been told not to explore all her life. But she knew what was at the end of the tunnel. Everyone knew what was at the end of the tunnel. Nippon.

Beautiful, green Nippon covered in grass and life. But Oina were never meant to leave Kamui, so the cave was strictly forbidden.

In fact, ever since a young human boy had entered into Kamui, a guard had been stationed at the mouth of the cave. Sure enough, lying on a mound of snow next the cave was an Oina man. He was a young man with a deep purple bear mask, usually a sign of strength and brutality. Though his uniform was wet from the snow, it could have been quite a handsome suit at one point. The main color was a purple to match his mask, but the buttons were a poised black. Several feet away was an enormous spear, numerous ribbons were tied to the hilt making it look even more flamboyant than seemed possible.

On tiptoe Kai inched towards the cave, wishing more than anything that Oki was here to protect her. Closer and closer she neared the mouth, making no sound. In her mind Kai kept repeating _I am nothing_, and moved as though nothing was there at all. Just three steps from the entrance, Kai put her foot down on a twig and it snapped loudly in two. The bear man jumped up and blocked the entrance before Kai could blink. "What do you think you're doing?" the bear man said as he edged closer to her.

"I-I-I---," Kai could not say anything. She just shook. The bear was quite possibly the greatest enemy of the deer, and Kai had always taken measures to assure that she never came in contact with any.

"I asked you a question," the bear spat. He began closing in on Kai, taking wide steps. As Kai stepped backwards the bear grabbed her waist and pulled, tossing her over his massive shoulder and bounding to a nearby tree. The tree was a large spruce tree, but it had minimal snow on it. By now Kai was shrieking, but the bear man ignored her and pawed through the branches of the spruce. After moving one exceptionally large branch, Kai could see a bunch of wanted posters stuck to tree sap and easily visible to the bear. "AHA!" said the bear man, "it _is _you, the runaway bride. Well, you'd better take it easy miss. We wouldn't want to damage the chief's delicate package."

Kai's eyes opened wide at this, she would be returned to the village and forced to marry for sure. Louder than ever she screamed, there was nothing else to do besides scream. However, the bear man got tired of the noise quickly, and he told her to shut up or be gagged. After his shift, the bear man told Kai, he would take her back to Wep'Keer. But when he said this he looked a little sad, like a child losing his pet.

"Please, let me go," Kai begged. "I will go to Nippon and you will never have to say I was here."

"No can do, miss runaway bride."

"I cannot marry him."

"Well, why not?"

This question made Kai think. Samickle was handsome, successful, and a reasonable guy. Why didn't she want to marry him?

At about noon the bear man hoisted Kai over his shoulder again and they began the long walk back to Wep'Keer. After an hour Kai could see Oki's hut and she knew it was her only chance. At the top of her lungs Kai let out the longest, most piercing and blood curdling scream she had ever screamed. The bear man swung her around and looked angry enough to hit her, but he stopped himself and took a large rope from his pack. "I warned you, miss runaway bride."

As the bear man began to tie Kai's wrists, there was a flash of silver light and the rope lay on the ground in pieces. Oki was ten feet away, eyeing the bear man with such dislike that Kai felt very bad for him. The bear man shoved Kai out of the way and transformed into one of the largest wolves that Kai or Oki had ever seen and began cursing horrendously at Oki, "You should go."

"Leave the girl with me," replied Oki.

"I'm afraid I can't do that sir," said the wolf-bear, eyeing Oki whilst picking at his claws, "You see this here lady broke the rules and she needs to go and repair what wrongs she had done."

"No, she is staying right here."

The wolf-bear flashed his sharp teeth menacingly, "I don't think so."

As the wolf-bear reached for Kai, she panicked and changed into a wolf-deer. This was a mistake. Smelling deer, the wolf-bear lunged at Kai, who quickly leapt out of the way and behind Oki and turned back into a human. It was too late, though. The wolf-bear was hurtling towards Oki and Kai at breakneck speeds, and Oki braced Kutone for impact.

The result was that the wolf-bear transformed back into a man, but this time his bear mask had a great cut in it. The cut went from top to bottom of the mask, leaving an obvious little amount of wood left to guard the bear man's face.

Oki himself had been thrust backwards and Kai had been nearly crushed underneath him but they were otherwise unharmed.

The bear man was speechless, damage to the flesh was nothing compared to a weak mask in Oina culture. He gave Kai one mournful look and dashed off. Oki slowly turned to face Kai and whispered, "What have you done?"

"He found me, I told him to let me go."

"No, what have you done to me?"

"What?"

"I assisted in the escape of the chief's fiancé."

"So what?" Kai was giving Oki a look of utmost disgust. She was the one getting married, what was his problem?

"So, now _I_ am a fugitive too."

All of a sudden, Kai was feeling better than she had in days. "Oki, if I am a runaway and you are a fugitive, let us go to the New World together! Let's go to Nippon."

This time Oki had nothing to say. Kai was right, and even though he was a wanted criminal, he too felt better than he had in ages.


End file.
